BLACK ART 255 



seems to portray a monstrosity — a human being witii a 

 rudimentary tail. A German philosopher might possibly 

 build upon this embryonic tail a theory to prove that the 

 Australian aboriginal is indeed and in fact the missing link, 

 and thereby excel in ethnological venture those who mei ely 

 recognise in him the relic from a prehistoric age of man 

 Could it not be argued that the picture reveals an act of 

 unconscious cerebration — an instinctive knowledge of 

 ancestors with tails ? 



However that may be, the unconscious artist took 

 further artless liberties with the human form divine. He 

 had been at pains, too, to smooth down the face of the rock 

 for the reception of the unshaded daubs of terra-cotta, 

 using peradventure the flat stone upon which he was wont 

 to bruise the hot and biting roots of the aroid {Colocasia 

 macrorrhizd) which formed part of his diet. The utensil lies 

 there at the entrance where he left it ; the plants grow in 

 profusion close by among the rocks ; but of the artist there 

 is no record, save the crude and grotesque figures in fading 

 red on the grey granite. 



Most of the central figure is clearly discernible ; but 

 parts of the outline have become blurred and irregular. 

 Tradition says that all the figures once had black heads — 

 the only attempts at the introduction of a second colour — 

 but no traces of the black heads are now visible. They 

 must have succumbed to the tender but irresistible assaults 

 of Time long ago. In one case, fact seems to belie tradition, 

 for there exist faint suggestions of a red head — and a red- 

 headed black is as rare as a black with a tail ; but the 

 traces are so extremely vague and indeterminate as to 

 render any attempt at restoration hopeless! But does not 

 this obscurity and partial dismemberment lend an air 

 of antiquity, much prized elsewhere, to these savage 

 frescoes ? 



Of quite a different order are the works in the Upper 

 Studio at the sign of the White Stripe. This lies close to 

 the backbone of the island, in the heart of a bewildering 

 jumble of immense rocks overgrown with jungle. Circum- 



